


Exaggerated

by pickleplum



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, badassery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-13
Updated: 2014-01-13
Packaged: 2018-01-08 13:23:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1133160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pickleplum/pseuds/pickleplum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reports of certain deaths have obviously been exaggerated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Exaggerated

The not-quite-end-of-the-world party reaches epic proportions in the Hong Kong Shatterdome, but a subdued mood reigns in _Cherno Alpha_ ’s former maintenance bay. The mechanics and techs pour mournful shots and toast the memory of her pilots.

Halfway through drinking the entirety of their jealously guarded stash of vodka, a pair of newcomers join the festivities. As the whole of the crew gapes, Sasha and Aleksis Kaidanovsky, the pilots presumed dead in the harbor, stagger into the bay, dripping wet and much the worse for wear.

“What?” Sasha demands. “You did not wait for us?” She extends a hand partially covered by a shredded gauntlet toward the nearest bottle. 

“Vodka. _Now_ ,” she commands.

The bottle nearly leaps into her grip from the maintenance chief’s shaking fingers.

Sasha takes a long pull while the crew struggles to absorb the vision of _Cherno_ ’s pilots, seemingly very much alive, standing with parts of their armor cracked, dented, or missing and their exposed skin marked by cuts and bruises.

“What are you staring at, people?” Sasha asks with menace as Aleksis seizes the alcohol from her. “Did you think a lowly kaiju or two could stop us?” 

“But… how did you escape? The reactor...? The hull...? We thought you...?” a brave crewmember asks.

She laughs loudly at the absurdity of the suggestion. “We never enter a battle--any battle, against any foe--without a plan for victory. Besides, we could not allow you to drink all of our hard-won vodka, could we?” Her smile bares her teeth. The entire crew takes a half-step back and Sasha laughs again.

After another swig of vodka, she wipes her mouth on the back of her gauntlet and returns the bottle to Aleksis. Sasha looks pointedly around the empty bay. “Where is _Cherno_?” As one, the crew drop their eyes to the floor.

“It’s been nearly a day!” Sasha scolds. “Do not tell me you were going to leave her in the water. After all she has done for you! Have you no respect?” Much of the audience fidgets nervously under her glare. Aleksis hands her the bottle, now less than half full.

“Tomorrow,” she declares, “we rescue _Cherno_ , then.” Sasha lifts the bottle over her head. “Tonight, we drink!”

The crowd roars its approval and raises their glasses and bottles.

 

Eventually, someone sets off to find Marshal Hansen and share the news, but not before the celebration drains most of the vodka supply.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [the prompt](http://pacificrimkink.livejournal.com/350.html?thread=1378398#t1378398):  
> “Can I just get something where the breach is closed and everyone is celebrating/getting on with business cause now that the end of the world isn't a threat there's paperwork to be done and science to explored when all of a sudden Sasha and Aleksis just turn up at the Shatterdome very wet and half dead but the only things they care about are Cherno Alpha because "You didn't even get her out of the water - you should all respect her more than that you dicks and also where is the vodka?" And they refuse to tell anyone how they survived because they're mysterious like that.”
> 
> All dialogue occurs in Russian.


End file.
